4 ms·

No, that is not my argument. The rules are online, and if you go and read them you can see that Youtube, netflix, and similar streaming video services and eboo

No, that is not my argument. The rules are online, and if you go and read them you can see that Youtube, netflix, and similar streaming video services and ebook readers, etc are explicitly exempted. As I said, Apple could never even hope to put this requirement on those type of services. It's totally impractical for them.

nrmitchi 6y ago
Yes, but do you not see the issue at play here? > "all apps are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers." This strongly implies that all apps have to following the same rules and guidelines. Having the guidelines say that (for example) Youtube is exempt, means that yes, _technically_ all apps are following the same "guidelines", but Youtube isn't following the same "rules". Ie, writing exemptions into the guidelines means that the quoted statement, if it was being honest, would read: > "all apps, except for those granted exemptions, are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers." The exemptions are quite literally the issue with their statement.
- javagram 6y ago
  The exemptions are for types of apps, not for individual apps. The idea that different rules might be written for different types of apps makes sense in the abstract. There are certainly arguments that can be made that Apple should change its rules to add more types of apps to the exemption. But they aren’t violating the rules they currently have, and also, as I said, making a rule that would require individual review of such content is impractical for apple - it would be the equivalent of banning those types of apps from the store. > 3.1.3(a) “Reader” Apps: Apps may allow a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VoIP, cloud storage, and approved services such as classroom management apps), provided that you agree not to directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase. The rule apple is asking microsoft to follow isn’t impossible, just inconvenient. There is already another game subscription service on iOS, “GameClub”, which follows the rules by submitting each game individually.

nrmitchi 6y ago

Yes, but do you not see the issue at play here? > "all apps are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers." This strongly implies that all apps have to following the same rules and guidelines. Having the guidelines say that (for example) Youtube is exempt, means that yes, _technically_ all apps are following the same "guidelines", but Youtube isn't following the same "rules". Ie, writing exemptions into the guidelines means that the quoted statement, if it was being honest, would read: > "all apps, except for those granted exemptions, are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers." The exemptions are quite literally the issue with their statement.

javagram 6y ago
The exemptions are for types of apps, not for individual apps. The idea that different rules might be written for different types of apps makes sense in the abstract. There are certainly arguments that can be made that Apple should change its rules to add more types of apps to the exemption. But they aren’t violating the rules they currently have, and also, as I said, making a rule that would require individual review of such content is impractical for apple - it would be the equivalent of banning those types of apps from the store. > 3.1.3(a) “Reader” Apps: Apps may allow a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VoIP, cloud storage, and approved services such as classroom management apps), provided that you agree not to directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase. The rule apple is asking microsoft to follow isn’t impossible, just inconvenient. There is already another game subscription service on iOS, “GameClub”, which follows the rules by submitting each game individually.